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Do not despair, some of us appreciate a serious article. ;-)

I think one problem modern people, especially living in the many areas of the world with air pollution, have is how dim the stars appear. A few years ago I was at the beach in Chincoteague. VA. There had been rain in the afternoon (clearing the atmosphere), and then a major power failure at least 10 miles up and down the coast. I mean it was DARK!! When we went out to see if our neighbors had lost their electricity, we were astonished at the magnificence of the stars. They looked about 10 times as bright as I had ever seen them. Great gleaming blotches. The planets, being mobile, would have been of special interest to the ancients. As the Chinese report a comet, was there any record of one in the Middle East, besides the biblical account? If it was significant, I should think it might appear in Roman, Greek, or Egyptian records.